A moral compass.

• Author: Via, George C.
• Position: Letters - Letter to the editor

Florida Bar President Ramon Abadin recently called for an open discussion about reforms in our legal system (President's Page, July/August). Indeed, only those in denial can ignore the profound social changes that have occurred since the 60s, and the persistent resistance government agencies have shown.

Still, for this critical analysis to work, we should begin with a comprehensive re-examination of the very purpose of our legal profession. Consider this statement made by people who are genuinely concerned about advancing human prosperity: "The profound changes underway in the world today require a new vision of the nature and purpose of our very existence."

To begin this broad conversation, recall the forgotten Preamble to our Constitution: "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union ..."

If ever that was a more divisive and imperfect union, it is our present day society. Consider how:

* Racism remains institutionalized in government and law enforcement, yet is emphatically denied. We have done little to eliminate this corrosive anti-social injustice.

* Guilty criminal defendants go free on "technicalities," while countless innocents are imprisoned by police frame ups and other corruption.

* Savvy lawyers, citing adversarial zeal, stretch ethics to their limits.

* Public morals have disappeared with the pill, recreational drugs, and alcohol usage, and the many businesses that profit from this "drunken orgy" market.

* The general public views the legal system as unfair at best.

Far from being simple issues addressed by a few well-placed policy amendments, these intractable abuses in our justice system show just how corrupt we as a society have become. Only our hypocrisy allows us to deny it. For governments do not become corrupted by accident, nor is it a simple...